With Hamilton continuing to pull away in a class of his own up front – at times lapping up to a second quicker than
anyone else out on the circuit – Kovalainen began to close the gap on Kubica, who became the first of the front-runners to blink as he entered the pits at the end of lap 16. The timing would not work out for the Pole, however, as he rejoined right behind Barrichello and Raikkonen, the experienced Brazilian still using all his guile and expertise to keep the far quicker
Ferrari behind him.
Hamilton was the next to make a stop at the end of lap 17 – two laps earlier than had been expected – promoting Kovalainen into the lead on his
McLaren debut. When the Finn made his own stop four laps later, he would rejoin just ahead of Raikkonen, who having finally found a way past Barrichello was now fairly flying, immediately setting the quickest first sector time of the race.
The next incident came as Trulli dropped out of a strong sixth place with technical issues, whilst Heidfeld narrowly jumped Rosberg for fourth as the pair pitted together, with the squabbling duo emerging surrounded by Coulthard and Alonso, the Spaniard cannily seizing the chance to dive past the frustrated Rosberg around the outside of turn three.
Adrian Sutil was the next to run into problems, touring into his pit garage as the retirement count mounted, with rookies
Nelsinho Piquet and Sébastien Bourdais bringing up the rear of the 15 drivers still running.
Back at the head of the field, meanwhile, by lap 24 Hamilton had the entire pit straight as his lead, but the next drama was just around the corner, as the embattled Massa aimed his car down the inside of Coulthard into turn three. As the Scot turned in, the committed Ferrari smashed right into the side of the
Red Bull Racing machine, tearing chunks out of the RB4 whose angry driver was forced to pull off onto the grass, his hopes of a points-scoring finish torpedoed in the space of a moment.
